Imagine, you are a soldier in the First World War. You are proud to be fighting for your country, but it is so frightening. When you joined up you thought it would be over within the year, but the war is just dragging on and on. You have seen such horrors, and you know that any day might be your last. It's a terrifying thought. Most of all though, you are frightened of a gas attack. Gas is such a silent weapon, it could have done its damage before you know it is there.
When I took these gas protectors to show the children, they were fascinated by them. The early 'mask', simple eye shields, which possibly date to World War One, was difficult for the children to recognise as any type of protection against gas, but the World War Two era mask, looked as one child said, 'exactly like what you see in the movies!' They knew about gas attacks during the wars, but had only ever seen gas masks on television, in movies or behind glass in museums. To be able to hold them, feel how heavy the World War Two mask was, and how flimsy the early protection was in comparison, was as another child said, 'awesome'.
When we think of gas masks we tend to think of their use in wars, particularly in World Wars One and Two. Yet their history actually goes back over a century before the First World War. A gas mask is a respirator which filters gas from the air, leaving it clean to breathe. Sometimes they are also used to filter other impurities from the air. The first, very primitive example of a respirator was actually used by miners and was introduced into mining by Alexander von Humboldt in 1799. These masks were primitive, but could filter some of the deadly gases which were found in mines. This respirator was not a gas mask though.
The first ever 'gas mask' was patented on June 12, 1849 by Lewis Haslett and was used to filter dust from the air. Soon other versions were being developed by people including John Stenhouse in 1854, John Tyndall in the 1870s and Garrett Morgan in 1912. Morgans device was mainly for use in breathing in smoky environments, like fires, but was very successful. He even used it in 1916 to rescue people from the Cleveland Waterworks tunnels, which were filled with gas and smoke under Lake Erie. Of course, the most famous use of gas masks was to protect soldiers and civilians from poison gas attack during the First and Second World Wars. The first 'gas mask' used in war to protect against such gases was simply a cotton mouth pad, or even a urine soaked cloth. As the war progressed though, gas masks became more effective and better designed. In 1915 James Bert Garner, an American chemist became the man credited with inventing the gas mask as we know it. He tested his mask on two colleages in a gas filled chamber and, when it was proven to work, offered it to the British for use in the War. Although Garner created the first real gas mask, it is British scientist Edward Harrison who was credited with making the first gas mask which could practically be mass produced. He even received a thank-you note from Winston Churchill for his efforts! If you would like to learn more about the history of gas masks, click here.
